Under the Mercy of the Moon
by LinkLover123
Summary: Hades x Persephone AU. The graces of Serenity fall unto the unlikely God of the Underworld, Todoroki. Todoroki has unwillingly captured the moonlight, but how does he intend to keep it within his reach.
1. Chapter 1: The Lunar Light

The rays of the Sun climbed across the horizon of the Earth and made its ways heavenward to embrace the only child of the lunar light. Serenity, daughter of the great Queen Selenity, Goddess of the Moon, felt the sun's warmth spread across her cheeks, arousing a soft blush. The hands of dawn encompassed Serenity's soft form to rouse her awake. It was time for another day to begin anew.

The period when the moon's lithe form hid behind the curtain of the sun's bright rays was the busiest time for the lunar residents. It was their duty afterall to prepare for the night. To assure that the mortals were comforted by the tender light of the moon. To ensure that tides churned and ships continued sailing on these neverending waves. Because as sure as the sun rises and falls each day, its lunar companion will do the same. This was the duty of those born under the moonlight.

Serenity let out a delicate breath that blew a soothing wind to stroke the white surface of the moon. This lunar landscape was all that the goddess-in-training had known since she had first opened her cerulean eyes to affirm her existence. Her fingers entangled themselves within the blanket draped across her. Most of the moon's servants were cold like the porcelain works of art lining her palace halls. But Serenity and her mother were the remaining beings who were born on the surface of the Earth. Within the Earth's atmosphere, which had gently collected the sun's spendor, the Lunarian royals had been blessed with its warmth. But that had been eons ago. There was no atmosphere on the moon to capture and hold any of the sun's warming rays.

It was rare for Serenity eyes to see any color in this kingdom of white. The walls of the palace were untouched by the rich hues abundantly found on earth. The barren sands of the moon bore no fruit. It was a beautiful but lifeless haven for its creatures.

Serenity paused in her weaving of a glittering tapestry. Her distant aunt, Athena, the Goddess of Weaving among countless other things, would have been proud of such an intricate piece of marvel. Her eyes traced the delicate contours of her fingers intertwined with the silver threads of the fabric. The lunar princess was in recess, taking a break between her lessons. She untangled herself from her weaving loom to stride across her room and onto her balcony.

Her balcony was Serenity's only place of refuge from her duties as the successor of the Lunar Kingdom. She gazed down at the only treasure that she could never attain even as a goddess. The beautiful marble of the Earth. It was so far from her touch and although the Earth was hundreds of times larger than her petite form, at the this distance, she felt as if she could wrap her arms around its tender spherical form. Her fingers could imagine being pricked by the sharp peaks of the mountains poking as it palpated across its surface.

What would it be like to swim within its glittering oceans? What she would have not give to lay on the fresh, green grass. She had heard countless stories of this faraway land from her tutor, Ami, Princess of Wisdom under the Guardianship of Mercury.

Ami had made many journeys to the Earth under the wing of her father, Hermes, God of Travelers and Ruler of the Planet Mercury. While in the mortal realm, she collected more books than a mortal could read in his lifetime. With the boundless amount of knowledge and wisdom she gleaned in her readings and on her trips, Queen Selenity saw it appropriate to appoint the wise goddess as her daughter's trusted tutor.

If only the Queen had known that these stories that Ami poured inside her daughters head was making her sweet princess grow more restless by the day, maybe she would have done something different. But even the gods themselves could have not prevented the upcoming tragedy from unfolding. None of them could have known for the future was as dark and unseen as the land under a new moon.

* * *

The Goddess of the Moon glided across her marble floors, her heels echoing down the halls as she did so. Her iridescent hair trailed like two rivers of silver behind her. How fitting for the reigning deity of the Silver Millenium Palace. Lately she had been unnerved by whispers from oracles afar about a change threatening to occur. The queen did not like change. Change meant a disturbance and a disturbance could threaten this peace that she had painstakingly crafted.

There was no atmosphere on the moon. There was no storm. No snow. No fires to scorch the already barren land. The only wind came from the sigh of the only two deities residing on this lunar landscape. Nothing had changed in a millenium unlike the mortal realm that was unrecognizable to the Queen who had walked across its rough earth eons ago. But today of all days, Queen Selenity felt a chill brush down her spin on this weatherless satellite.

Her footsteps ceased in front of the place which always pacified all her worries: her precious daughter's room. The queen remembered the countless nights that she would quietly enter her child's room to tell her stories or sing her lullabies. Her soft melodies would gracefully intertwine with her daughter's croons. In this small pocket of the universe, only the two of them existed, safe from any harm.

Queen Selenity took in her daughter's shining, delicate form. Serenity was maturing more and more everyday. Her daughter was a replica of the Queen-except for one difference: her daughter's golden locks. When Selenity had broken through the last layer of the Earth's atmosphere with her daughter wrapped in her arms, the sun's golden rays shined upon her bundle of hope. Serenity's silver locks transformed in that moment of timeless space and absorbed the radiant light of Helios, the predecessor to the Sun God, Apollo.

"My precious moonlight, what has captured your attention so?" the reigning Queen asked her beloved daughter.

"Oh! Mother! I had not heard you come in. My apologies, I became lost within my musings about the Earth."

The Queen stilled suddenly. Her daughter's curiosity of that cursed planet had grown more and more, especially since Ami had become her tutor. "Now Serenity, as beautiful as the pictures the daughter of Hermes must have painted for you, there are much uglier, darker sides to the Earth."

"I know, Mother. I have studied the battles of the ancients for so long now. But I feel like I have learned all that I could from these books."

"Your tutor Ami would crumble into dust if your words had poured into her ears."

Serenity gave a light chuckle. "That may be so, but she has learned from the experiences down below as well. I have had only the words to paint the stories I have heard." She paused, inhaling courage to say her next words, "Mother, I desperately yearn to go down to the Earth and experience it for myself."

The hot vision of the Great War of the Titans flashed before Selenity's eyes. Fear, desperation, unending hopelessness seized her ancient bones and she almost fell over in shock. It had been centuries since she had thought of that terrible time when even light feared to come down to the wartorn Earth. The symbol of Lunarian royalty flashed hotly amid the Queen's brow, blinding both mother and daughter. For the first time in her life, she raised her voice at her precious child, "NO! You must never step foot on the mortal's realm. NEVER!"

The air in the room stilled. One could cut the tension in the room with a sword. Before Selenity could comprehend it, pearls of tear fell from her daughter's cerulean orbs. As there was no gravity on the moon, the pearls gently floated away from Serenity's face, orbiting her golden head. Suddenly, it was not a young woman that stood before the Queen, but her bright-eyed, innocent child who had just fallen and scraped her knee.

Within seconds, her mother bounded across the floor, forgetting all royal decorum, and rushed to her daughter's side. "My moonlight. I am sorry to the sun and back. I had never meant to yell at you like that." As the Queen gently rubbing soothing circles in her daughter's back, Serenity's tears finally abated.

"I understand your worries, Mother. But do you not think that the residents of Earth have changed since your time? It has been so long since the Great War of Old."

"You are quite right about experience being the best teacher that one could ask for. And from my experience, both mortals and immortals of the Earthly realm never change."

Serenity could never understand the absolute horrors that came along with the Great War. And there was no way that the Queen could ever explain such things to her precious moonbeam. Her precious daughter could not even begin to fathom the pain of seeing your loved ones slain before your very eyes. One by one, the circle of Titans were massacred with no mercy by their children. Selenity stood alone as the last remaining Titaness of Old. To live on the Earth meant playing to the whims of your own uncontrolled desires and lust for power. The frail humans would often crumble beneath the thumb of their all-powerful gods. But these gods who have everything that they could ever imagine within their fingertips grew bored of their own invincibility and take delirious delight of playing with their mortal ward. One can so easily become blinded by the dark, vile enticement of jealousy and greed.

Selenity was the only Titaness able to rise from the sea of blood, to break through the Earth's atmosphere, and to enter into the weightless space. With her newborn daughter tucked safely within her arms, she cried one single tear of hope, which crystallized into the core of the moon they live on today. This crystal handmade moon was a beautiful, untouchable paradise born out of her pain and suffering. And to be able to raise her precious, darling child in a world untouched by the tainted hands of those below- this was a miracle that she could have never been able to even hope for in the complete turmoil of the Great War of Old.

"My precious Serenity, I can never expect you to understand the traumas of the past. But this unreachable heaven that I have created for the two of us," she gestures to the lunar landscape before them, "this paradise is what the Earthlings yearn for. They worship our fellow Gods and Goddesses their entire lives for a glimpse of what we have. So trust me when I say this, you do not want to be any place but here."

Serenity gave a slight nod of acknowledgement within her mother's arms. The Goddess of the Moon slowly unwrapped her arms from her most precious treasure. "Go take a short rest before your next lesson Ami. And with that, the Queen thought she would never hear a peep out of her daughter about this subject again. Her daughter was all the Titaness could hope for: beautiful, intelligent, respectful, and obedient. So of course, her child would take heed of her mother's words without question. She had always done so before.

But even a deity as great and wise as the Titaness Selenity could be wrong.

* * *

For the rest of the day, as Serenity went through the repetitive tasks of lunar godlihood, she formulated a plan to escape this handcrafted paradise. For when she nodded in acknowledgement of her mother's words, she was not recognizing her mother's warning. She was recognizing what her words had meant: Serenity would never be allowed to truly live under her mother's watchful, overbearing gaze. If experience would not come to her as a teacher, she would go out herself to seek it.

With only the cloak of darkness on her back, Serenity whisked herself away in the dead of the night. Her palm touched the cold surface of grand marble doors guarding the most important room of the palace: The Pylonus Gateway. This room could only be entered by those branded with the Lunarian mark of royalty. The upturned crescent moon flashed and dimmed as the doors opened to welcome its succeeding monarch.

Serenity had secretly watched when her mother would lead her tutor into the room and guide her on her way to the next destination. The princess had not been allowed to enter the room without proper supervision, but she had never even had the chance. Her mother would never even allow her to go to the castles of the Inner Planets to visit her guardian friends, stating that the moon had the best security of all. Enough was enough. Tonight she was finally going to leave this paradise-prison.

The young royal pulled up the controls for the esteemed Pylonus Gateway and blanched at what appeared before her. It was a language that she could not recognize. Was this the language of the Titans of Old, one that would have died if her mother had not escaped? She could make out some symbols here and there, but most words were indecipherable. But the unwavering princess continued trying to press her fingertips on this ancient technology.

A palace guard on his usual rounds noticed the slightly ajar door to the portal room that Serenity had forgotten to close in her haste. Racing to the foot of the door, he yelled, "Your Royal Highness! What in Selenity's name are you doing? You are not allowed in this room!" Serenity turned back to briefly acknowledged the intruder, "well, neither are you." Just as he tried to enter the forbidden room, an invisible force threw him back. His back hit the floor with a painful wallop and his mouth fell agape at this defiant version of the princess that he had never seen before.

Hastily, he ran to the end of the hall to alert the Queen, but the royal had already stirred awake due to the commotion. The doors bursted open to reveal the disheveled palace guard. "Your Majesty! The princess! She's-" But the guard did not have a chance to finish his words as Queen Selenity brushed by him. Her legs carried her to her worst nightmare.

Her daughter Serenity was frantically pressing buttons left and right on the Pylonus Gateway. "Serenity! Cease what you are doing this instant! You do not understand what you are getting yourself into!" Her desperate voice carried across the immense room.

The golden-haired Lunarian paused to turn back to her loving mother. "I do not understand, but should I not get the chance to find out for myself?"

Hearing those words, Queen Selenity blasted the doors to the portal room wide open and bounded across the immense room to reach her daughter.

Princess Serenity's heart was one beat away from breaking through her chest. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins and she pounded her small fists against the gateway technology in frantic desperation. If she did not leave now, she would never get the opportunity to do so again.

The tell tale signs of the Pylonus Gateway turning on signaled to both Lunarians that time was running out. 'Please!' both mother and daughter sent a mental prayer.

Just as the Queen's fingertips brushed her daughter's arm, a light within Serenity bursted forward, blinding all occupants of the room. Bolts of energy surged forward from the portal, running errant at so much power forcing its way through.

Her mother had never felt such an explosion of power before and she was blasted backwards across the hall. "I'm sorry, Mother" were the last words that entered the Queen's ears before her vision went dark.


	2. Chapter 2: A Fallen Star

Our beautiful princess Serenity fell from the moon like a shooting star towards the Earth. A radiant light encompassed the princess and protected her from the barriers of flame shielding the planet of sapphire and emerald.

Gods are most often the ones who play tricks on humans. But this time, a power greater than wielded by any god played a trick on our hapless Serenity. For instead of landing into rich, fertile earth that her feet had yearned to run across, she made impact with a layer one below that. Serenity landed in a realm in which hellfire consumed the leftover of mortals' souls. Where the actions of one's brief life in the mortal realm were judged with an eternal sentence. Where even gods cannot escape from forever. Serenity, the child who Fortune favored, had landed in the unforgiving Underworld.

Her shielded form easily broke through the barriers protecting the mortal world from the fiery landscape of hell. Souls who had not been kissed by the suns rays in eons screamed in delirium as they rushed to the opening, desperate to escape their tortuous punishment.

The commotion of the screaming ghouls alerted the God of Eruption, who stood as one of the first line of defense in the Underworld. "What the hell is going on?!" his cries were followed by explosions from his palms, rocketing through the poor souls. One by one, he blasted one tortured soul after another into oblivion. Perhaps such actions would be too cruel, but if these souls leaked into the surface world, then they would wreak unimaginable havoc. These depraved souls would know no bounds and leech onto the first body they found, alive or otherwise. The dead would walk once more. It was up to Bakugo, the esteemed patron of Eruption to prevent such an apocalypse from plaguing the human world.

When he finally reached the breach in the barrier, his roar of anger rang through the land. Such a reverberating call forewarned others of the threat and momentarily stalled the souls desperate to escape. The first to arrive was the God of Riot, Kirishima. His limbs hardened to easily break through souls who had already withering forms and watched as they crumbled into dust. "The arrival of Tengai, God of Barriers, is forthcoming!"

"Well he better hasten! More of hell's most foul creatures have taken notice of the tear. How in the name of Hades did something break through the strongest barrier in Hell? Why would any common sense possessing creature desire to do so?! Do they not know that we are keeping the most vile creatures in?" Bakugo spit out these words as he sent explosions in every which way.

Just as stated, Tengai, the best barrier creator in all of hell, came to the rescue. As Bakugo and Kirishima pounded more deviant hellish creatures and souls into utter oblivion, Tengai patched up the barrier. More reinforcement came in the form of Ashido, Goddess of Acid, and her regiment who corralled the remaining creatures into their personal hell.

"I have finished a temporary reinforcement to the barrier, but I will need more support if this hole to be truly fixed. I will see to it that my apprentices come at once to assist me." Tengai finished his report to Bakugo with a nod and went on his way to summon his students.

"Has anyone discovered what monstrosity could have done such a thing? Was it an attack from another god? Who in their right minds would want to start another war? Hell is filled to the brim with soldiers with blood on their hands." Bakugo's anger was palpable. While most would reason that his explosive anger was a sign of his immaturity as a god, the reason why he was Hades's right hand man lied in his experience in combat. Bakugo was a seasoned god who had fought alongside Hades to defeat his Titan father and sent him to a place where even the light of hellfire could not reach.

"Sir, you need to see this!" It took all of Bakugo's self-control to not launch the soldier into the river of bone-melting lava coursing alongside them.

"Why the hell are you presenting me with a flower?! I will shove such foolishness so deep inside your—"

"Wait!" Ashido cut the god before he could erupt in anger. "How did you stumble into a flower of all things in a land where no such life grow?" She gingerly took the flower from her soldier's possession and cupped it in her hand, shielding it from the withering heat.

As a loyal creature hell, Ashido had always remained in the Underworld, never dreaming to cross to the surface. But this marvelous yet very delicate piece of wonder made Ashido question the earth that lied above them. She never imagined such beauty could lie elsewhere than in hell. The petals felt like velvet underneath her clawed fingertips and its pink color complimented her blushing skin.

Another underling cried out, "General! We have discovered the cause for the breach!" All three gods jolted at the proclamation and ran towards the newfound discovery. The sight that beheld them robbed their breath out of their lungs.

A crater larger than the eye could take in had gobbled up the rusted ground. The strangest thing was the the flurry of flowers that proliferated inside the crater itself. If hell were full of brighter creatures, then one of them would frolic and roll down along the gentle slopes of the crater. But hell was not full of such creatures. Hell was full of monsters that desired to tear such creatures of innocence to shreds.

A most peculiar shining object laid in the center of the crater. Its light shrouded the object in mystery and even these gods of the Underworld were too scared to approach it. For to touch such radiance meant to risk annihilation as none of these gods had been faced with such power in eons.

"We must alert Hades at once."

* * *

There were no other God that reigned on Earth or the Heavens that was more feared than the great Hades, Overseer of the Underworld. Even the whisper of his name would send a crowd fleeing like cockroaches. His power was heard to scorch an entire country with the flick of his wrist or freeze a land into an unbearable Age of Ice. Mortals did anything and everything they could think of to appease the feared God of the Underworld.

Hades was a secretive God for someone of such great stature must guard his secrets lest they be used to topple him. There were few who knew his true face for he never left his castle without his impenetrable armor. And even fewer knew his true name. Only those in his innermost circle had the privilege of calling him Todoroki.

Todoroki sat on his golden throne, barely able to stay awake in this trial determining whether or not this soul would be pardoned from his crimes as a human. Typically he would not be bothered with such trivial matters but the upkeep of hell was growing more and more restless. Seems like the mortals above were growing all the more creative with the sins they were committing.

The hapless blathering of this purplish, round creature before him could not hold his attention for more than a second at a time. Perhaps he should do away with such patheticness and sentence him to the second level of hell for his lustful gazes he consistently threw at the female warden. Just as he was about to announce his decree, a soldier from the outer levels burst through the doors.

"Your Majesty, Bakugo is in utmost need of your presence. The barrier guarding our world from the mortal realm has been broken by a mysterious object. The God of Barriers is currently mending the tear, but you must come at once to take witness to what has fallen into our realm." The soldier finished his report with little breath in him. He cursed his luck for being the unfortunate messenger to deliver such news to the most feared being in all of hell.

The fires in the room flared in a frenzy, its flames almost licking the sky-high ceiling. "Fetch my chariot at once!" His roaring command made the walls tremble and all residents went momentarily deaf. The poor soldier's knees buckled and fell on his bottom as fear rendered his legs useless. The soldier would rather have bathed in the blazing fires of hell for a million years instead of bearing witness to the visage of Hades in his horned helmet that made his eyes menacing rubies in black sockets. The poor soul quickly scrambled off the floor to do as he was commanded lest he risked not even having legs to flee from the most feared being in all of hell.

Todoroki was absolutely livid. The heat in the room became unbearable and the luckless soul awaiting his judgement perished on the spot. What creature, mortal or otherwise, would be foolish enough to trespass into his domain? But the better question was: how mighty was this creature to break one of the most powerful barriers in heaven and hell without alerting the ruler of the Underworld himself? The only answer was that a God had assisted such an attack but the only ones able to do so were Zeus and Poseidon. Had the time come for another war? Todoroki shook his head. Now was not the time to ponder about such things.

The dark chariot raced across the red skies of hell to bring Todoroki to his destination. Instead of stepping onto the commonplace scorched earth of hell, Todoroki found his feet upon a patch of soft flowers. His attention became completely fixated on such exquisite greenery. No such greenery grew anywhere in hell and it had been centuries since he had visited the mortal or heavenly realm to even bring such seeds back accidentally. Rare were his invitations to the frequent celebrations that most other gods held to bathe in their luxury.

"Your Majesty!" Todoroki was shocked from his stupor by the voice of his general, Goddess of Acid. "You must see this." The general led him through the field of flowers to his right-hand man, Bakugo, and his lieutenant Kirishima. The two stood at the edge of a crater whose sides filled with the same floral life. His followers' gaze all gestured towards energy field circling the crater.

"We haven't been able to step past the edge of the crater to inspect what lies below. Tengai is busy fixing the tear so we have not been able to break through this shield. But this energy signature, I haven't felt such a thing since the Great War." The implication of Bakugo's words hanged heavy in the scorching heat. The return of the Titans would be one of the worst outcomes for all those involved: mortal and immortal beings alike.

Todoroki placed a metal-gloved hand upon the energy shield and felt a slight shock coursing through his body. His fingertips pushed against the stubborn shield. The more the shield pushed back, the more his adrenaline coursed through his body. He realized he had not felt this sort of excitement in ages. The barrier finally broke at his insistence, shattering into a million pieces. His company watched in awe at this subtle, yet masterful display of his power. This truly was their overlord.

Todoroki's legs grew a mind of their own as they took him sliding down the crater's slope. His body filled with an electric kind of anticipation that had his mind thrumming. When he finally reached the center, the sight before him ripped his breath so violently from his lungs that he almost keeled over.

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his entire life. No, "beautiful" was not enough to describe what she was. He had seen millions of souls and goddesses pass before his eyes, but no creature, otherworldly or otherwise, could even hold a flame to the radiance that this woman before him held. Could she be a fallen angel from Zeus's court? No, that could not be. Her light was simply so pure, it was unbelievable. It was if she had never crossed paths with anything even tainted with a speck of dirt. Almost all the Gods and Goddesses he knew who had been on Earth were tainted in some way, by their own darkness or the humans, which sometimes did unspeakable deeds in their name. Was it possible that she was not even one of the heavenly patrons of Earth?

A memory bubbled up to the surface and this time Todoroki's knee did hit the ground in shock. The esteemed God of the Underworld knelt for no man, but he would kneel for the daughter of the last Titaness, Goddess of the Moon. He remembered several centuries ago, before the moon's barrier had gone up, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of the most exquisite creature on the white surface of the moon through the use of his telescope. The telescope was a gift from the Goddess of Invention, Hatsumei, but he had had no idea how to use it. It was a stroke of luck that he had even seen her that night. She was such a heavenly visage, wrapped in her white flowing dress with her rivers of golden hair cascading from her head. Even from the depths of hell, he could see the blues of her eyes, so enchanting peering down on the Earth. But in a flash, she disappeared from the view of his telescope. He had tried every night again for years before he finally convinced himself that it was only a mirage.

The devilish God removed his horned helmet to reveal hair split between scarlet and ivory and eyes resembling turquoise and silver gems. Every fiber of his being desired to get a better view of this heavenly being that he had been blessed with. Her long flaxen hair was strewn across the ground like spilled golden thread. Velvet flower petals caressed the side of her peaceful, slumbering face.

"Your majesty!" The footsteps of his underlings broke him out of his trance. "Long moments have passed since your departure. What have you discovered?" Before anyone could step any closer, their demonic leader whipped his head around to reveal flashing red eyes as a warning to his subjects. 'Come any closer and you will not live to see the next moonrise,' these glowing red eyes warned. Todoroki spread his large bat-like wings to block the view of Serenity, completing the devilish look of Lord of the Underworld.

Without a word, Todoroki summoned large, frozen crystals with a stomp of his right foot to barricade his generals from approaching his newfound treasure. Gingerly, he scooped up the fallen Goddess of the Moon into his arms, cradling her head against his chest. With one bat of his wings, he shot up into the sky like a cannonball.

His abandoned generals looked at their leader's ascending figure in complete befuddlement.

"What in the nine levels of hell just happened?"


	3. Chapter 3: Bathe in Crimson

The blood coursing through Serenity's body became wary of the dramatic shift in tidal pull. It was familiar with the pull it felt on the moon, but for some reason, the moon felt so far away now. Even in unconsciousness, her blood became restless and slowly, the feeling returned to her body. Serenity was slowly being coaxed out of the darkness. She awaited for the fingers of dawn to wrap around her skin, to be aroused awake by the sun's gentle warmth, but no such thing came.

The most peculiar thing was how heavy Serenity felt. She had never felt heavier than a feather, but now it is as if her bones transmuted into steel overnight. More and more the moon princess became aware of how different everything felt. But 'different' and 'strange' were not words used on the moon, for nothing had changed in centuries. All at once, her memories came crashing into her like a tidal wave. She tried shooting out of her slumber, but even the air was heavier now. It was like attempting to rise while being buried in sand.

Serenity strained her muscles to rise but even that simple action hurt. She managed to pull together enough strength to rise upon her elbow and rub her eyes with her free hand. Her eyes opened to a scene painted in burgundy crimson. Her frail body laid atop a large plush bed in which she would have had to roll over several times to fall off the edge. Four pillars rose from each corner of the bed like towering trees holding a billowing translucent canopy. This was a bed fit for a king.

Her eyes scanned the room. The ceiling seemed to go on for miles. Ornate furniture tastefully decorated the space. Every flicker of her eyes discovered the glint of gold ornaments strewn across tabletops or lining books. Several flame-lit scones lined the wall to bathe the room in a dim light. It was so disconcerting to absorb a color scheme that was not white. The minimal decorations in the Lunar Palace could be considered chaste compared to the luxuriousness this room boasted.

"Have you arisen, your Royal Highness?" a deep voice called from behind two towering doors. Serenity froze in her spot for it was the first time she had even heard a man's voice. Although the moon's palace was filled with servants, they were creatures created by her mother were genderless and not to be identified as either mortal or immortal.

There was a feeling deep in Serenity's soul that told her that the voice did not belong to some ordinary man. No, she could not even begin to fathom what kind of power this man held.

Being ever the polite royal, the nervous girl introduced herself to this faceless voice. After all, it would not bode well to insult her host. "Good morning, kind sir. My name is Princess Serenity, daughter of Selenity, Goddess of the Moon. May I inquire where I am currently residing in?"

"You are residing in my personal chambers."

Suddenly, the flames in the scones grew to three times their size, bringing full light to the crimson room belonging to the mysterious man. The ornate door slowly swung open to reveal one of the most attractive creatures Serenity had ever bore witness to. Of course, she did not have much exposure to other immortal beings for her mother would never allow the young princess to attend any of the Godly gatherings. And the closest she ever seen a male God was through the paintings her tutor and friend would sneak into their lessons. But even then, she knew it would not be bold to say that this would be one of the most enchanting men she would ever encounter in her lifetime.

The man had on a silky, long robe that dragged across the floor as he stepped closer to her. The deep crimson color complimented the pale complexion of his chest, that of which was most definitely very muscled. The stark contrast between the scarlet and ivory of his hair that flowed down his shoulders was such a remarkable feature that accentuated his otherworldliness. But the most attractive feature that she could not ignore the most was his turquoise and steel-colored eyes boring into her as he drew nearer.

Serenity turned her face away, hoping to camouflage the blush spreading across her cheeks with the crimson sheets beneath her. It would not do well to entangle herself in such affairs with a stranger so soon after her descent to Earth.

The stranger paused. "My apologies, Your Highness. Is the state of my dress not to your liking?"

Serenity avidly shook her head in protest. No, the problem was his state of dress was _too_ _much_ in her liking.

"No, that is certainly not the case." Todoroki smiled at her her embarrassed insistence and the hidden implication of her answer. "It is just that you know my name and origin yet I do not know yours."

"My deepest apologies. My name is Todoroki, Lord of this castle." It had been several millennia since he had introduced himself with his real name. And never had he forgone the most important title of "God of the Underworld" to his name. Well, the title of castle-owner was not untrue. Perhaps the demons in the eighth circle of hell would call out their lord for lying by omission.

"May I pray tell ask where this castle stands?"

Todoroki stood in consternation. Perhaps he could keep his true identity hidden but the location of this world? There was no power in the world to remake hell into heaven by the time Serenity stumbled outside to look at the blood painted skies.

He swallowed his fear and replied, "this castle stands in the Underworld."

Serenity almost fell into unconsciousness once more at the Lord's statement. The golden strands of her locks almost whitened in shock. "My apologies, but there is no way that is possible… my portal could have not possibly sent me here of all places…" Serenity rambled, forgetting for a moment who was in her presence. Fear seized her heart as blood pumped anxiety through her veins. Was her mother right all along? That she was in over her head before she could even stand on her own two feet?

"My fair lady, this is a truth I would never besmirch. But I hear you mention a portal. Was Hell not the destination you desired when you traveled from the moon? Well, from eyewitnesses, you more as much fell like a shooting star. Hell has not had an entrance as that in millenia." Todoroki attempted a lighthearted tone to belie the gravity of the situation, but he was never one for jest. The silence of the room pervaded as the two tried to make sense of the situation.

As Serenity tried to wrap her head around the heart-wrenching fact that she was in Hell, Todoroki came to the understanding that this fallen princess had not come of her own free will. His heart lurched at the thought. This meant that she would need to leave this forsaken earth, which her light never meant to shine upon in the first place. But was it pure accident or fate that Serenity now lied within Serenity's reach? Whatever the case, the unnamed God of the Underworld declared within himself that he would do his hardest to get Serenity to stay.

"My dear Serenity," Todoroki said softly. Serenity threw her head up at the softness of the gentleman's voice. "I know it must weigh as much as a mountain, this realization that you have come to. But hell is not as… hellish as you imagine. Some of the horror stories you heard are probably true, but there is much more that you do not know. If you grant me your much treasured time, I will show you the wonders of this world." Todoroki left out the much important words 'that I created,' but that was a truth for another time.

Serenity's mind silenced at the implication of Todoroki's offer. Could there possibly be more to the underworld than she had read in the scriptures on the moon? Her mother told her that stories of the underworld would make Serenity churn in nightmares if she ruminate on it too long. The pleading glow of Todoroki's turquoise and steel eyes cut into the princess's kind heart.

"As generous it is for you to offer your time, I am still afraid to step foot into this world forsaken by both the light of the sun and the moon." The tremors of her hands did not go unnoticed by Todoroki. Silence stretched between the steps which Todoroki took to lessen the space between the two. Before Serenity could fathom it, Todoroki sat beside Serenity, his form sinking into the bed. His two hands slowly reached to draw the princess's trembling hand. Serenity sat paralyzed, inexperienced in a situation in which a man came in such close proximity. But the heat of Todoroki's left hand atop her fist comforted her and the coolness of his right hand beneath her palm calmed her.

Serenity marveled at such a phenomenon. How could a person be hot and cold at the same time? This kind of unimaginable wonder was what she sought when she decided to leave the moon's still surface.

"I give you my word, Serenity, Princess and daughter of the Moon, that I will protect you with my life." The absolute earnestness of his proposal was the final push that Serenity needed. Perhaps it was the change in the atmosphere or the slightest imbalance of the moon's tilt. In that moment, Serenity was a different, fearless person and she jumped upon the opportunity that awaited her.

"Then Lord Todoroki, I am at your mercy."


End file.
